On the Air
by Laura Nachman
February 14, 2003

            The phrase “Behind every great man is a great woman” certainly applies to the life of sportscaster Jim McKay, who credits his wife of fifty years Margaret, for his success in “Jim McKay: My World in My Words,” which debuts on HBO Monday, February 24 at 10 p.m.   McKay gives Margaret, whom he met while they were reporters at “The Baltimore Sun,” credit for his legendary career that peaked with his handling of the hostage crisis in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The documentary, which was written by McKay, traces his life from his birth in Philadelphia until the present.  McKay, whose real last name is McManus lived here until he was 15-years-old.  He said he knew at the age of 12 that he wanted to be a sportswriter like Philadelphia’s Red Smith.  The special goes over McKay’s triumphs as the host of “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” and numerous “Olympic” games, but the most compelling part of the show was a look into his personal life, in which McKay and his family including son Sean McManus, the president of CBS Sports, talked about his little-known “nervous breakdown” in the winter of 1960.  Telling his then-employer CBS, that he had pneumonia, McKay could not do the Olympic games due to his depression.  Margaret literally dragged him out of bed to see a psychiatrist, and McKay recovered in time to do the summer Olympics that year.  In 1961, McKay joined ABC Sports, and the rest is history. 

            The “Daytona 500” airs on Fox at noon Sunday.  Philadelphia was one of the highest rated major markets for the race last year with at 10.8 rating.  Teresa Earnhardt, widow of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, will speak with Katie Couric in her first primetime interview since she lost her husband almost two-years-ago on “Dateline NBC” tonight at 10 p.m.         

Kareen Abdul-Jabbar will work as an analyst for CBS coverage of the NCAA tournament this year.  He’ll join the lead team of Dick Enberg and Matt Guokas.  The former “Airplane” star has kept a low profile since retiring from the NBA in 1989.  He had a coaching stint as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers (told you he kept a low profile.) This is his first announcing job.

            Eagles announcer Merrill Reese, Comcast SportsNet’s Keith Jones, and a few other sports celebrities were at the Philadelphia VIP movie screening for “Daredevil,” who looks like the “Sloman Shield guy” Tuesday, which opens in wide release today. 

            Larry Bowa and Darren Daulton are expected to participate in a celebrity roast for John Kruk’s final night on “The Best Damn Sports Show Period” on Fox Sports Net tonight  (Comcast SportsNet at 11 p.m.)  Kruk will be joining the Phillies’ broadcast team this season.  An announcement about the replacement for Joe Kerrigan on “Phillies Post Game Live” on CSN for this season should be coming soon.  Is Mickey Morandini free?

Final Thought

            If the Flyers scored as often as Jeremy Roenick Toyota commercials aired, they’d be in first place.